Meet the Mustangs
by gaarasmistress39
Summary: Ed thought the only thing that could give him purpose would be finding the Philosopher's Stone and getting he and his brother back to normal, but all that changed when the lovely Rayna Mustang entered his violently complicated life and somehow ended up along for the ride. Could his new purpose be love?
1. Chapter 1

**Thoughts**

* * *

Edward was bored he and his younger brother Alphonse had just left their close but violent friend Winry in Rush Valley, where she could apprentice under some cranky old auto mail engineer. The train ride to Central City was boring and uneventful, and he needed some action. "Are you alright big brother?" Ed glanced over at the suit of armor that was his younger brother, and went back to looking out the window, "I'm incredibly bored."  
"Why don't you rest so that your injuries will heal faster?" Al suggested, "We'll be stopping in the next town to see that doctor that those men at the station were talking about."  
"I seriously doubt that this guy is as amazing as those creeps him sound."  
"That's not whats' important right now brother," Al sighed. "Those men men are planning to hurt the doctor...we have to stop them. Not to mention get you fixed up." Ed just kept silently staring out the window.

Upon arriving in the medium sized town of Hellspass the Elric brothers discovered that the doctor they were looking for was called Mustang. "Do you think this guy may be related to Colonel Mustang?" Al asked as they walked in the direction indicated by the people they'd asked for directions. "I don't know," Ed replied already fuming at the mention of his CO. "But I already hate this guy." The eldest Elric said. "But if we save him wont the Colonel owe us?"  
"Oh! I didn't think about it that way."  
"We'll the Lieutenant would agree that we should get some form of compensation for going out of our way for him...again."  
"Yes she would." Ed said a wicked grin spreading across his face, his golden eyes gleaming with mischief.

* * *

"What the hell?" Ed yelled when he stepped into 's office/home, his shock had his nose and his injuries gushing blood as he collapsed in the doorway. Al looked up from his brother and studied the girl wearing the white medical coat, she was about an inch shorter than Ed, had long flowing black hair, her eyes a shimmering shade of lavender. She was just as curvy as Winry.  
"What happened to him?" She asked directing Al to bring Ed into a room that resembled a doctor's office. "Well, he's a State Alchemist and was injured in a fight last night."  
"I see...you go and wait in the other room, and I'll fix him right up."  
"Yes!" Al said quickly heading into the living room and shutting the door behind him. Ed now awake sat on the edge of the bed watching as she walked around the large room getting the items that she would need. "Where are you injured?" She asked her tone reminding him of Lieutenant Hawkey whenever the Colonel was doing something annoying. "Just in my upper body."  
"Take off your shirt and jacket then." She commanded pouring the liquid from a bottle into a bowl, and filling two more bowls with warm water.

"This may sting a bit." She said focusing on the worst of the slashes, "did you get mistaken for a prime cut of meet or something?"  
"I feel like it." He chuckled wincing as she cleaned each of his wounds. "Are you by any chance related to Colonel Roy Mustang?"  
"He's my father." She said sitting the cleaning materials to the side. "Now this next part is going to be really painful and I apologize in advance."  
"What are you about to do?"  
"Show you how a sixteen year old girl got such an amazing reputation." She grinned clapping her hands together. Ed was instantly alerted to the fact that she was about to use alchemy. She placed a hand flat against his chest and painful jolts of power shot through his body; until every cut and scratch on his body closed up and became nonexistent.

* * *

"Are you alright Ed?" Al asked when his brother and the doctor came out of the room. "She's his daughter Al, so once we beat up those guys who are planning to hurt her he'll really owe us." Ed said thinking that the attack the men had been planning was more than likely rape.  
"What kind of payment will you except?" Al asked. "Normally I take what people can give me," she explained. "I was going to see my father with the money I've saved up, but he left East City without telling me where he was going so I haven't been able to leave."  
"Then we'll pay you by taking you to see him," Al decided, "we were on our way to see him anyway." Something in Ed's pants twitched when the thought of traveling with the sexy doctor passed through his mind. "We should leave now so that dealing with those men won't put us off schedule." Ed said unable to keep the huskiness from his voice.  
"Oh, my name is Rayna by the way. Rayna Mustang."  
"I'm Edward Elric and this is my younger brother Alphonse." Ed said returning her smile. "Wow! I've helped the famous Elric brothers." She giggled seeming more like a bubbly little girl at that moment than a intelligent teenager. "Well, Rayna. You go and get your stuff packed." Ed said going to keep watch at the window for the pervs.


	2. Chapter 2

"speaking"

_thoughts_

* * *

"Colonel are you sure you don't want to have that pain in your side looked at by a doctor?" Lieutenant Hawkey asked when she noticed him in pain again.

"There is only one doctor I trust to fix this, and though she's made quite the reputation for herself I can't seem to find her."Colonel Mustang replied.  
"Sir, what if its something serious?"  
"Then I'll just have a problem." He replied as though it wasn't important.

"Colonel, we've just received word that the Elric brother's train will be arriving within the hour." Warent Officer Falman said.  
"Shall we go and meet them then Lieutenant?" Roy asked.

"No, I will go and you will stay here." She said leaving the room.

* * *

"Who is this?" Lieutenant Hawkey asked studying the girl who was waiting with the brothers.  
"This is Rayna, she's here to see the Colonel." Al explained as they all got into the car; "Rayna this Lieutenant Hawkey, she babysits the Colonel." Ed said continuing the introduction._  
_

"Thank you for taking such good care of him." Rayna said, "tell me, how is he?"  
"I've been trying to get him to see a doctor and take care of the pain in his side, but he's being stubborn." The Lieutenant sighed.  
"Perhaps Rayna could take a look." Al suggested.  
"Are you a doctor," the blonde woman asked as she continued to drive through the city and back to HQ. "I am." Rayna replied simply.

"What business do you have with the Colonel?" Hawkey asked.

"I guess you can say its been awhile since I've seen him, so I wish to make up for lost time." The younger girl replied.  
"How long has it been?" Ed asked.  
"Ten years to the day." She replied.

* * *

"Colonel Mustang," Lieutenant Hawkey said entering the room before everyone else; "the Elric brothers have brought along a guest who wishes to see you."  
Colonel Mustang was momentarily shocked when Rayna entered the room, then the shock was replaced with his signiture smirk.

"You've really let your hair grow out." Roy said.  
"And you're still working on achieving that goal of yours, but why don't we deal with that pain you've got before it turns into something serious?"  
"We'll since I don't have to keep looking for you I don't have to stall anymore."  
"You mean she's the doctor you were referring to?" Hawkey asked.  
"So even though you've been ignoring your responsibilites as my father and only living parent, you have been monitoring my success?"

"You know why I've kept my distance...I don't want you to end up like your mother."  
"Yes, but there's no way I'll make the same choices." Rayna mumbled.

"Does it hurt when I press down here?" Rayna asked, as she applied pressure to her father's well toned abdomen.  
"A little bit." Roy replied; he watched as she wrote his response in a little black book. "Any other things bothering you lately?

"She certainly is thorough," Lieutenant Hawkey whispered from where and the boys were watching on the other side of the room.  
"I still can't believe that the Colonel has a kid." Ed mumbled. Though what really bothered him was growing more and more attracted to the Colonel's kid.  
"I wounder what happened to her mother?" Al said.

"Okay, this is going to be incredibly painless, but it wont taste good." Rayna said, "I'll have to make your medicine first though."  
"What is the medicine for?" Hawkey asked.  
"His muscles need to be relaxed." Rayna shrugged.

"Are you permanently traveling with Fullmetal?" Her father asked putting his shirt and jacket back on.

Ed had tensed waiting for her to say something.  
"Judging from the stories I've heard and the extent of his injuries yesterday, I should go with him, but I've never actually done much traveling and I don't want to be in their way."  
"It was getting to dangerous for you to stay in that town anyway with all of those perverts." Al said; Rayna gave the two brothers a blank look before asking, "what perverts?"

"You didn't notice that every guy there was always leering at you?" Ed asked incredulously.

The Colonel chuckled, "if that's the case you certainly can't go back where you were, and if you stay here there's too much of a risk of you ending up like your mother..." He said switching into serious father mode, "so I would feel more comfortable if Fullmetal was keeping an eye on you."

* * *

_So much for my plan to just forget her and not have to acknowledge these strange feelings. _Ed sighed inwardly as he lay in his bed at the military hotel. She was just so cute when she was acting like a normal person, and the way she focused when she was working was really sexy.

_Maybe I should just go for it...so far she doesn't appear to be anything like her father. _

And by that he meant that she didn't seem like a horrible person. She obviously wasn't that kind of person that tricked others into doing her work for her. "I guess I should just go with it." He sighed rolling over onto his side. _  
_

"What does that mean?" Al asked.  
"Nothing just wondering how well our new companion will handle life on the road." Ed lied. He didn't think telling anyone about his strange pretty much instant attraction to Rayna would be a good idea just yet.

* * *

"He needs to take one of these with every meal." Rayna told the Lieutenant giving her two shoe box sized boxes full of small bottles. "If he won't take them, then you'll have to mix it in with his food or drink." She continued as the older woman studied the dark purple liquid.

"How much is here?"  
"I made enough for the next two months."  
"Should he be better by the time he runs out?" Risa asked.  
"That's just when I plan to check on him." Giving the woman a sheet of paper, "a list of side effects." She explained.  
"You ready?" Ed asked showing up and interupting anything else that would have been said between the two women.

"What's with the files?" Risa asked referring to the two manilla folders in Ed's hands.  
"The Colonel found out where we're going and gave me some stuff to look into." He grumbled.

"Still making life difficult for others I see." Rayna said rolling her eyes. "Personally I'm being more civil than I normally am, so he's not holding back with his demands."

"Then we should go before he gives you anything else to do." Rayna smiled sweetly at him.  
The Lieutenant didn't miss the way Ed's cheeks turned red and he left the room flustered muttering something about going to get Al. _How cute!_ She mused inwardly being careful not to show her amusement on the outside.

* * *

"Do you have a boyfriend Rayna?" Risa asked.

"No, I don't have the time for a relationship." Rayna replied, _though I wouldn't mind having one. _She added silently.  
Risa's eyes didn't miss a thing though; so she wasn't oblivious to the look of longing that crossed over the girl's face and quickly disappeared.

"The Colonel is going to love this..."  
"Love what?" Rayna asked confused by the blonde woman's statement.  
"I was just being sarcastic about the medicine," she lied, "now let's get you and the boys to the train station."

Rayna was confused by how jittery the normally calm woman was, but she didn't argue as she was told to go and get her father.


	3. Chapter 3

"Speaking"

_Thoughts_

* * *

Ed and Rayna sat in the dining car that night, he was going over one of the files and she was managing her money.

"If you need help purchasing something during our travels I'd be happy to help out." He said watching as she she read over her receipts and jotted down numbers.

"No, I'm just trying to see how much I spent on supplies, I like to keep track of my expenses just as I keep track of my appointments and everything." She explained, "and every once in a while I take my findings to a medical institution and they pay me."

"Kind of like my research funding?"  
"Yes, and I never spend too much." She continued to explain. "I even prefer to make some medicines by hand, so I don't spend too much when I have to restock."

Ed nodded in understanding and the two ordered dinner.

"So why don't you hate your father for leaving you?" He asked.

"Because he would write and send me presents all the time before I moved to that small town." She explained, "he didn't want me to be hurt just because he was a State Alchemist, and no matter what I know that he loves me."

Ed wondered if anything she'd said applied to his own father, but he quickly dismissed the thought. His father was a bastard and nothing would ever change that. "Well, where we're going you'll find a lot of people who could use a good doctor." He said returning to reading the file.

"Did you know Hughes?" She asked and he nodded, "my dad was the same way." Ed was shocked that Roy had been a babbling idiot over his daughter.

* * *

"They arrived in Julian the next afternoon and quickly found lodging before going their separate ways. Rayna sought out the doctor, and managed to help him out a bit, he was difficult at first but once he found out who she was and saw the quality of her work he was more than happy for the assistance.

"Where have you been?" Ed asked looking as though he had been in a bar fight.  
"I did a little work with the local doctor, and he paid me some in exchange for my hard work."

"Oh."  
"Where have you been?" She asked trying not to burst into a fit of giggles at his appearance. Ed noticed how she was pressing her lips together and how the corners of her mouth kept twitching.

"The guy we had to apprehend didn't want to cooperate." Al explained since his brother had seemed to forget that Rayna had even asked a question.

"Oh, did you manage to complete your task?"  
"Yes, he has been handed over to the military officials in this area, but we still have to do what we came here for and do the last job the Colonel sent with us." Since Ed was still incapable of speaking.

"Why did you two want to come here?" She asked pouring more tea.  
"We've been looking for information on something it'd probably be better that we didn't tell you about." Al said.  
Did you get hurt Ed? I'd be happy to fix you up again."

Ed suddenly came out of his trance and shook his head, "I'm just a little sore," he chuckled then placed his order with the waitress. Al declined any food, and both boys suddenly realized that Rayna was not privy to their current situation.

"What is it?" Rayna asked, her food had just arrived and she had just noticed the wary expression on Ed's face and how tense Al suddenly was.

"There's something you need to know about Al-" Ed began.  
"You mean that he doesn't have a body and his soul is attached to that suit of armor?"  
"H-how did you know ?" Al asked.  
"I'm a doctor I notice these things, and I know that you had to have lost your body under terrible circumstances." She explained.

"I may have some information I'd be willing to share with you...for a price."  
Ed recognized the look on her face as the same one Colonel Mustang got whenever he was winning, or being a smart ass. _So she does act like father, though I will admit that grin looks hot on her. _Ed thought to himself but out loud he said,

"Price?"

"Yep. It's valuable information that not even the military has the ability to find."  
"Then how did you find it?" Al asked.

"Because I'm always willing to break the rules to get what I want." She said. _While on this trip I may just accomplish my own goal. _She thought to herself an evil looking smile appearing on her face, and confusing her companions.

"The price?" Al said interrupting her thoughts.

"I need to check on some things first, so we'll have to discus it later."  
"What do you need to check on?" Ed asked. He was suspicious of her a little after seeing her smile like that.

"I have to make sure all of my facts are strait." She said smiling sweetly.

Ed couldn't argue with that, but he felt that he should keep an eye on her anyway. "We can discus it when we get on the road again." Ed said.

"I should be done going through my notes by then." She said ordering more food.

* * *

"You sure do eat a lot." Ed said with awe, he was referring to the fact that Rayna had eaten seven meals and three desserts.

"I have to keep my strength up, never know when food wont be so easy to get." She said avoiding the truth.  
"That makes sense." Al said as they went their separate ways.  
"Good night boys." She giggled before shutting the door to her room.

* * *

**AN: I updated! Finally!  
**

**R&R :)  
**


	4. Chapter 4

"speaking"

_thoughts_

* * *

Ed spent the next day following Rayna around, but but there wasn't much he could observe since she spent all of her time in a book store.

"Are there any other book stores around here?" Rayna asked the store owner as she made her purchases.

"I'm afraid not, but I may be able to help if you tell me what it is you're looking for." The older woman said.  
"Old books, ones that survived the Ishvarlan book burning." Rayna said.

"Oh! Then you should go to see Lieutenant Malsens." The sales woman said giving her change. "He has a vast library, and he's a sucker for a pretty face!" She said winking.

"Could you write down the instructions for me please?"

* * *

Al walked down the street looking around and taking in the sights. He just couldn't figure out why his brother was acting strange.

"Ever since meeting Rayna he's been so unfocused..." he sighed. "Perhaps telling my problem to someone else will help me come up with the answer!" He said running off to find someone.

* * *

Lieutenant Malsens was by all means a pervert; the man had short red hair, a creepy grin, and dark brown eyes that appeared to be stuck in a permanent leer.

"Can I help you young lady?" He asked as he stood looking at the young woman who had knocked on his door.

"Hi, my name is Rayna," she said giving him her sweetest most innocent smile. "The woman at the book store told me that you have a vast library that contains some books that could be valuable to my research."

"Oh, so you want to use my library?"  
"Yes, I would be very grateful." Rayna said.  
"Lucky for you I can't say 'no' to a lady."

Ed wondered if she was oblivious to the fact that the Lieutenant hadn't once looked away from her breasts. "I might as well take care of that second job for the Colonel, and evaluate this creep's performance."

* * *

"Well young man it sounds like your brother is love struck." An old man chuckled.

Al had gone to a bar and everyone there had listened to his story. "Love struck?" Al asked.

"It means he's very strongly attracted to the girl who's traveling with you." A waitress said.  
"Yep, and I wouldn't be surprised to hear wedding bells in the future if she feels the same." The bar tender added.

"Wah!" Al cried out in shock. _Ed in love? Its shocking and certainly news worthy!_ He thought to himself.

"Are you okay?" A woman asked.  
"Yes, but I need to use a phone." Al said. The guy behind the bar pointed to the wall, and Al immediately went to call Winry_._

* * *

Ed read through all of the files that the Lieutenant had, and added the records to the notes he'd taken when he questioned the towns people. There was no doubt that the Colonel had been right to suspect the man, and Ed had already made the call.

"Lieutenant Malsens?" Rayna turned surprised to hear her father's voice.  
"You're that Colonel Mustang guy," Malsens said. "What're you doing in my home?"  
"I'm arresting you for embezelling and forging tax records." Roy replied, "and I'll mentally add on that I just caught you eying my daughter in a sexual manor."

"What are you doing here Rayna?" Lieutenant Hawkey asked as she cuffed Malsens.

"I'm researching." Rayna said.  
"We'll box up all of these books and store them for you in Central, so take what you need now." Her father ordered.  
"Yes sir." She answered without arguing.


	5. Chapter 5

"speaking"

_thoughts_

* * *

"I'm surprised you had time to do what you did since you spent all morning following me around." Rayna said as she and Ed stopped for some dinner.

"You knew?" He asked.  
"Was I not supposed to know?" She asked confused.

"No you weren't." Ed grumbled eating his stew.

"Sorry, I'm very sensitive to the presence of others." She explained.

_She looks like her dog just died..._Ed thought to himself. "Don't worry about it, at least I know no one can spy or sneak up on you." He said.

"Are you sure you're not mad?"  
"Positive." He told her.

Rayna smiled with genuine happiness, "I'm so happy you're not mad." She giggled, "though you must have been bored watching me look at books all day."

Ed grinned, "not at all! I like books and I'm really curious as to what you are researching." He said, though he didn't add that her was interested because it involved books that should have been destroyed; he also kept the fact that he liked watching her when she was so focused to himself.

"Oh...did you get any books for yourself?" She asked.  
"I may get something before we leave the day after tomorrow." he shrugged.

"Are we leaving soon big brother?" They both turned to see Al with Lieutenant Hawkey and the Colonel.

"Why don't you two join us?" Ed suggested getting the waitress's attention.

* * *

"Rayna how are you financially?" Roy asked as they all sat eating.

"I'm on a tight budget because of my research, but it's nothing." She replied.  
"I offered to pay for travel expenses, but she said 'no'." Ed said when when Risa gave him a look.

"Alice was the same way." Roy chuckled.  
"Who's Alice?" Al asked.  
"She's my mother." Rayna answered.

The Lieutenant and the Colonel were shocked at how much Rayna ate at dinner, and she gave them the same excuse she'd given Ed and Al. But this time Ed insisted on covering the bill.

"We'll be leaving in the morning." Lieutenant Hawkey said.  
"Then why don't you share my room, and father can stay with Ed and Al?" Rayna said.

Al, the lieutenant, and the colonel knew that Ed would protest the arrangement. "What do you think Ed?" Rayna asked.

"I'm okay with the arrangement." Ed said as though it wasn't really a big deal."Then its settled!" Rayna clapped, both she and Ed oblivious to how shocked the others were.

Rayna turned on the desk lamp and opened one of the books that she took from Malsens library. _The man was unaware of the gold mine of knowledge he was sitting on, but his loss only brings me closer to my goal._ She thought to herself smiling evilly again.

Risa sat sat on the bed reading a romance novel and watching her commanding officer's daughter work; she was curious but given the fact that she was Colonel Mustang's daughter the Lieutenant doubted that she would even get a strait answer. _I hope she doesn't get into any trouble._

* * *

**AN: **

**R&R  
**


	6. Chapter 6

"speaking"

_thoughts_

* * *

Colonel Mustang left a nice sized purse of money and a note in his sleeping daughter's bag before he and the Lieutenant left the next morning. Rayna hadn't gone with Ed to see them off, she had simply been too tired after staying up half the night working; but Al had stayed behind to keep an eye on her.

Al was trying to figure out what she could have possibly done to make his brother fall in love with her.

"What's wrong Al?" She asked waking up to what appeared to be Al deep in thought.

He hadn't even noticed that she was waking up, "how do women make men fall in love with them?" He asked.

Rayna was more than a little surprised by his question. "That's not really how love works..." She said trying to think of how to explain it a way that he would understand it.

"Then how does love work?" He asked.  
"Well, love is when you find someone you want to share the rest of your life with." She said. "You never want to be away from them, you want to start a family with them."

"How do you find this person?" Al asked.  
"Well, you meet someone new. You share interests with them, you are physically attracted to each other, and you feel as though a void within you has been filled." She told him. "If you have anymore questions I suggest you ask married people, or read some romance novels."

* * *

Al went off to find some work; while Rayna, who had been touched to find her father's present went off to do a small amount of shopping.

First thing that she did was buy a bigger backpack, and then some snacks that she would be able to take on the road with her. "I'm going to need all of the energy I can get...I must not allow that haunting sleep to return." She vowed to herself as she made her purchases.

**XxXxXxXxXx**

Ed found Al helping some construction workers, "if you wanted some books all you had to do was ask."Ed told him.

"I know big brother, but this is for personal research so I want to do it on my own." Al replied.  
"If that's what you want." Ed said with a shrug, "but where is Rayna?" He asked after a second hoping that she hadn't come across another pervert.

"She went to do a bit of shopping, so you are also free to do as you please before we have to get back on the road." Al told him returning to his own work.

Ed decided to just go to the book store and see if he could find something of interest to take on the trip with him, and to do a bit of shopping of his own. "Our travels are about to get a bit more difficult, so I should get some supplies." He mumbled to himself.

It was while he was getting some gear that he literally ran into Rayna as she was buying some first aid supplies.

"Hey what're you out shopping for?" He asked scratching the back of his head in an effort to seem less nervous and more casual.

"Rasia and Al told me that you have a habit of getting hurt all the time, so I was getting extra supplies for my medical bag." She explained.

"Oh...what else did you get?" He asked keeping up conversation.  
"Some personal necesities and entertainment for the road...what have you purchased?" Rayna replied.  
"Some books, and a few things I thought would make our travels easier." He answered.  
"Can I ask you one more question?" She asked innocently.

"Sure." Ed said both wary and confused.  
"Why are you so nervous?" She asked.

"I'm not nervous..." He lied.

"You seem nervous." Rayna argued.

"I'm just trying to keep you as comfortable as possible." He told her, "I'm not used to traveling with girls for long periods of time." He added coming up with an excuse that wasn't a lie but at the same time wasn't the truth.

"Well, try not to worry about it too much, I'll let you know if something is wrong." She smiled warmly at him.

* * *

**Sorry for the long wait, next chapter going up this evening as well.  
**

**R&R Please**


	7. Chapter 7

"speaking"

_thoughts_

* * *

"Have you seen the Full Metal runt lately?" Envy asked grinning at Lust.

"No, he was here a few days ago, but I couldn't get anything on where he would be going once leaving Central." Lust sighed with annoyance.

"I could find out for you." Envy offered.

"No." Lust said looking over at Gluttony as he devoured some birds, "we need to remain focused on getting rid of Scar for now."

"I don't smell him Lust!" Gluttony said his voice coming out garbled.  
"What did I tell you about talking with your mouth full?" Lust scolded wiping his meal off of her dress.

* * *

"Hey Al," Ed said when his brother entered their hotel room later that evening, " did you get what you had wanted to buy?"

"Yep. I found a lot of useful material." Al replied.  
"Good, I got you a backpack." Ed said lying back on the bed with a book.  
"What for?" Al asked confused though he did appreciate the gesture.

"To carry your stuff so you wont have a bunch of loose objects rattling around inside of you." Ed explained and Al nodded. "Its over in the corner with some other stuff I thought you might like." Ed said.

**XxXxXxXxXxXx**

Rayna sat in her room unable to focus on any of her research; she would tell the Elric brothers information it would've taken them years to find out (if they figured it out at all) when they left in the morning, and she was nervous about the payment she was going to request.

Ever since Al had asked her about love that morning, her stomach had been doing flip-flops.

What if his questions had something to do with Ed? Then her request wouldn't be taken too lightly...

_Unless he was referring to Ed and some other girl..._

* * *

Colonel Mustang rushed over to the payphone not even waiting for the Lieutenant to completely stop the car before he'd jumped out.

Riasa was confused as to why the man was in such a hurry to use the phone, but was sure she was about to find out.

"Yes, I need to speak with Edward Elric," he said into the receiver.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"Hello?" Ed said who would be calling him at such a late hour.

**'Ed, its Mustang.'**

"Is something wrong Colonel?" Ed said completely alert.

**'I just remembered why Rayna eats so much.'**

Ed was even more alert because now he was certain that the call was urgent. "I'm listening."

**'Alice died while she was seven months pregnant, and as a result of not getting her out quick enough Rayna was born with a rare disease that rapidly depletes her energy.'**

"I see..." Ed said he and Rayna could talk about what had actually happened to her mom in the future.

**'The only way she can keep up her energy is by eating and allowing her body to absorb it through the food...she's building up her reserves so to speak.'**

"What happens if she doesn't?" Ed asked making a mental note to get more travel safe food since it was going to be a while before they made it to another town.

**'The one and only time it happened was when she was two...she fell asleep and didn't wake up again until a few days after he fourth birthday.'**

Ed didn't miss the agony and the regret in his tone.

"Don't worry Colonel I'll get some extra food that she can take on the road with us, and do everything in my power to make sure that it doesn't happen again." Ed vowed.

**'Good, tell her I said to be safe and to call me should she need anything.'**

"I will." Ed answered hanging up.

* * *

Rayna was just like her mother, sure she looked like him and was excellent at manipulating people like he was; but Roy couldn't deny that his daughter was just like her mother in every way.

"Alice didn't like asking for help or telling me when something was wrong either..." He chuckled humorlessly.

"Sir?" The Lieutenant asked not sure if was actually talking to her.

"She didn't want to be a burden is what she would say, and wanted to prove that she could take care of herself." He continued.

"Most women often feel that they only cause problems for the people that they care about." Riasa explained as she drove, "Rayna may behave the same way with Ed." She added.

"Why do you say that?" Roy asked arching an eyebrow.  
"Because they are very strongly attracted to each other, so strong that Ed is actually being polite to you." She chuckled.

"Oh no!" He chuckled as well, "poor Full Metal doesn't stand a chance! When Rayna wants something she gets it."

"Really?" Riasa asked.

"She's just like her mother and though I loved her...Alice was often too much for me to handle." He replied. "Now that I think about it...you're a bit like that too Lieutenant."

"I am?" She asked.  
"Very strong willed." He nodded.

* * *

**R&R Please. Who can guess what Rayna's payment request will be?**


End file.
